Rev. Jesse Jackson: Son ‘struggling’

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. “remains under tight medical supervision” and has offered a “sincere apology” in the wake of recent legal issues, his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, said on Monday in a statement.

“Jesse remains under tight medical supervision,” the reverend said of his son. “He is struggling with the highs and lows of his bipolar disorder.”

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The statement from Jackson and his social justice organization, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, comes several days after news broke that the former congressman, an Illinois Democrat, will plead guilty to conspiring, with his wife, to use $750,000 in campaign money for personal use, as POLITICO reported on Friday.

“Jesse’s ordeal has been compounded by the stresses of his current legal challenges,” the father’s statement continued. “In a recent statement of contrition, he assumed responsibility and apologized. Our hope is that his sincere apology will be well received. This is a storm, within time storms pass over.”

The Rev. Jackson, who said in his statement that “the hurt in this valley is indescribable,” thanked well-wishers and asked for prayers for his son’s wife, Sandi, and for their children.

The race to succeed Jackson is under way in the Windy City. The Democratic primary for his old seat — which includes parts of the deeply Democratic South Side of Chicago — will occur next week, and Robin Kelly, the former Cook County chief administrative officer, looks poised to be her party’s pick.